6 Ways to Market Your Small Business Mobile App

Apps are as effective as their reach. It’s the cold truth of marketing—no matter the quality of your campaign, it’s the delivery that makes it successful. To ensure your mobile app lives up to its ROI potential, it’s important to invest in a well designed mobile marketing strategy, which can lead to hundreds or even thousands of downloads when properly leveraged.

Here’s a comprehensive guide on making an early dent with your mobile marketing plan.

1. Know your audience

If you haven’t identified your core audience, you’ll never hit your sales target. First figure out who your app should cater to, then design for them. Here are some factors to consider:

Age range

Interests

Tech-savviness

Industry

2. Don’t overlook keywords

App store discoverability is a huge factor to consider when you’re launching your app. At least63% of iOS users search for apps organically, and a whopping 83% of all iOS apps are “Zombie Apps” that are essentially invisible in an organic App Store search. These stats underline the importance of keyword research and optimization. Aim to attract as much organic traffic to your site and app as possible by examining industry trends and staying up-to-date on app store optimization strategy.

3. Build an online presence

Enhance your app’s online presence as much as possible by showcasing it on your website and incorporating it into your other marketing channels. You can even go so far as creating a comprehensive website for the app itself. Here are a few more detailed ideas to consider:

Landing Page: Dedicate a page of your front-end website to your mobile app. Include download links or scannable QR codes that lead visitors straight to the app store listing. Emphasize its benefits to the user, like cost-savings and insider product info, in addition to simply listing the features. Screenshots and promo videos are big selling points as well.

Blog Articles: Leading up to launch, post regular updates and sneak peeks on your company blog. Post-launch, continue to share the latest feature updates and user insights to capture the attention of new customers.

Banners: Design clickable website banners that convey essential info and link through to actionable content, like the download link or an app release blog post.

Emails: Add regular app update emails to your drip campaigns. You can pull content from your landing page and reframe it to work seamlessly within your email marketing campaign.

4. Schedule your launch

An app launch done right can bring a storm of downloads. Put your launch day on the calendar and begin advertising your “Official App Launch” to customers and leads. Create a social media buzz around it, promising exclusive offers and sending teasers out far and wide. When launch day arrives, offer special deals to the first users to download. Before you know it, you’ll have hundreds of customers with your app in their hands.

5. Hear your customers

At the first stages of your app’s release, listen closely to customer feedback. It helps to include a response form in your app and on your site. Regularly read over the app store store reviews—and ask loyal customers for positive ones— plus pay attention to common complaints. Keep these communication channels open in the long-run so you can continue revising and improving your app’s ratings, ultimately better serving your user base.

6. Consider videos

Videos are a great way to demonstrate your app’s capabilities. They go further than words and screenshots can, providing a real glimpse into the user experience. Create a short promo video that tours the app’s UI, but avoid low-quality production at all costs—no video is better than shoddy video, and if you don’t have the resources to dedicate to it then you’re better off sticking to print. With short and clear videos, you can popularize your app on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Vine, and Instagram. The clip may not go viral, but you’re likely to nab some downloads and add a dose of professionalism along the way.

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